1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drive and bearing device for a binding station for finished bales predominantly in waste bale presses with a horizontally acting press plate, wherein several twisting wheels provided with a radial slot for receiving the binding wire are mounted in a support and are temporarily rotated by a common drive means for the purpose of twisting the wire.
2. Description of the Related Art
Twisting stations of the above-described type with slotted twisting wheels have already been known in the art for several decades. Used as the common drive in such wheels are either revolving endless drive chains or drive gear systems which interact with corresponding external gears at the twisting wheels.
However, in the introduction of DE-OS 26 56 457 from the year 1976, it is mentioned as a significant disadvantage of these known systems, among other things, as the principal reason for interruptions of operation that the twisting wheels provided with twisting slots for receiving the binding wire and external toothings for the drive do not permit a tight encapsulation against contamination because of the free accessibility to the twisting slots. This results over time in accumulations of large amounts of dirt which finally result in the destruction of the entire gear system. However, in the reference discussed above, the only solution to solve this problem is provided by an additional component in the form of a separating push member which can be moved in and out between the press box and the press duct.
Later references, such as DE 35 44 773 C2 from the year 1985 and others of more recent date, still do not attack the problem at the root, i.e., the location of the source of the problem, but continue to use externally toothed twisting wheels in cooperation with correspondingly finely toothed drive gear wheels.